Collaboration needed for better roads, highways

Published 9:35 am, Monday, April 30, 2012

It’s no secret that the Permian Basin oil boom has placed a lot of stress on our roads and highways. It’s good to see the Texas Transportation Commission is at least trying to meet these challenges.

The commission recently approved $40 million for maintenance and safety improvement on roads impacted by the state’s energy industry. That is probably not enough in terms of what is really needed, but it is a start in keeping our oil fields connected with a solid road infrastructure.

Much of the road stress obviously comes from the energy sector as it moves heavy equipment all across this region.

It’s amazing how much traffic a single well can generate. Bringing in one gas well takes about 1,184 trucks — or the equivalent of about 8 million cars, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. That number certainly caught our eye. It also makes it clear that we have to keep our roads repaired because it won’t take long to break down all our area roads if they aren’t serviced properly.

When you consider we have more than 100 wells being drilled at any given time in the Permian Basin, it’s easy to see what kind of traffic we are putting on our roads. In this regard, the TTC has made a wise decision to sink additional funding into the road system in our part of the world.

But this has to be a two-way street. The oil and gas industry has to do its part in minimizing the degrading impact their trucks have on our road system. It is our hope the industry will do everything it can to aid the task being faced by road workers.

In fact, TxDOT has issued a release calling for more collaboration with the energy sector to lessen the impact now being felt in the Basin. TxDOT will begin work this summer to repair and make improvements where needed.

In our opinion, it is the responsibility and the duty of the energy sector to join with TxDOT’s newly formed executive-level task force to study this issue. This is the perfect opportunity for both sides to understand the needs and capabilities of both sides. That should make it easier to develop strategies that will protect our roads and discover where future aid will be needed most.

We never want this issue to divide into adversarial roles within our state. The state and the oil industry are tied together with strong bonds, and it is right that they work together to solve the common problems they face.